So, in order to ensure that Lifan could continue to manage the club, the city government initially took a series of appeasement measures, including allocating funds from the Sports Bureau. After all, if Lifan completely relinquished control of the club, the city government would indeed struggle to find a suitable person to take on this hot potato.

As for enterprises from other regions, no one is willing to come here. Although there might be interest in buying the club’s participation rights, the city government and the local sports bureau would definitely not agree.

It is also quite challenging to find a local enterprise with the capability and willingness to take over the club. Although there were rumors that the owner of another large local automobile company, Chang’an, was interested in taking over the club, the outcome was ultimately inconclusive.

This is because Chang’an Automobile is a relatively complex state-owned enterprise. Although it is now among the top 500 companies, it is not owned by a single individual. Therefore, a project that only involves spending money without generating profits is not something a single person can decide on alone.

Seeing Zhi Nao’s analysis, Wu Hao immediately came up with a plan: first, have his subordinates acquire the club.

Of course, how to transform this club into a phenomenon-level club would need careful planning. Wu Hao estimated that the funds required for this were not sufficient with his current account balance.

“Zero, how much money do I have left in my account now?”

“BOSS, you currently have 260 million USD in your Swiss bank account and 130 million RMB in your domestic account.” Zhi Nao Zero quickly provided the specific answer. Of course, this is not all of Wu Hao’s assets. He still has considerable funds in the accounts of the machinery factory and the investment company’s branch in the city. However, Wu Hao would not touch these funds as they are meant for the construction of the resort and the management of the machinery factory.

“Then according to your plan, how much capital is needed to create a domestic ‘phenomenon-level’ club?” Wu Hao continued to inquire.

Zhi Nao Zero quickly answered, “BOSS, if you want to create a phenomenon-level club and promote the development of domestic football, the minimum investment would be 5 billion USD. Of course, this capital is not spent all at once but is divided into several stages. The initial investment is around 2 to 3 billion USD.”

“5 billion USD? That’s not too much. Now, according to the major international financial markets, how long would it take to turn this 260 million USD into 5 billion USD through normal trading?” Wu Hao was not surprised by the 5 billion USD figure. Even if it were 50 billion or 500 billion, he would not be shocked because money was just a number to him.

Whether it’s making money through normal trading methods on financial markets or withdrawing money from inactive accounts in major global banks, it all amounts to a huge sum.

Particularly with the internationally renowned Swiss Bank, the data security center at Swiss Bank is no different from entering one’s own home for Zero. It can easily query information from various bank accounts.

There are numerous accounts in the bank that have not had any transactions for over ten or twenty years. As for the owners of these accounts?

Needless to say, they are either deceased or dead.

Swiss Bank’s anonymous accounts are the preferred storage for corrupt officials and criminal elements both domestically and internationally. The funds of these people are inherently dirty, so encountering death or accidents is quite normal.

Thus, the money in these anonymous accounts becomes unclaimed, and for the sake of its reputation, the bank cannot claim ownership of these funds. After all, the reason Swiss Bank is the most prestigious in the world is not without reason.

Even a powerful country like the United States cannot make the bank disclose any account information, given the bank’s immense influence—so great it surpasses even that of a single country.

This is one of the reasons why the funds of corrupt officials who have fallen from grace domestically cannot be recovered.

However, although the funds in these dead accounts are substantial, they are hidden, so Wu Hao would not use them.

The reason is simple: for any acquisition or other activities domestically, his sources of money must have a legitimate channel.

For smaller amounts, he could still use previous methods, utilizing international investment companies and various channels to legally bring money into the country.

Since 1 billion USD is not an enormous sum, but since Wu Hao plans to continue making significant investments, he must legally obtain a large amount of funds to avoid raising too much suspicion from the authorities.

The only legal and fast way to acquire funds is through financial instruments like stocks and futures on international financial markets.

With Zero’s computational abilities, it can calculate the best ways to obtain benefits legally.

The funds Wu Hao previously used domestically were also under the guise of this kind of investment, albeit in relatively small amounts.

“BOSS, according to your requirements, if 260 million USD is processed through my calculations, it will take about 10 days to accumulate 5 billion USD, without affecting the international financial market.”

“Ten days?” Wu Hao thought for a moment and continued, “No need to wait for ten days. Notify me when the funds exceed 2 billion USD and release a bit of news to the outside world, saying that a domestic financial tycoon has amassed 2 billion USD and is making a strong rise. Just a slight mention will do. There’s no need to reveal my information for now.”

Wu Hao’s decision was well-considered. After all, he intended to acquire a football club next and would need to spend heavily on its development.

When the time comes, media coverage will certainly be intense, and the investors in the club will be of great interest to the media, so Wu Hao cannot continue to keep his information secret.

After all, his industry is visible, and once the media investigates, his information will be easily found. It would be different if Wu Hao were investing in other industries, but in the football industry, which is naturally a media and public interest magnet.

The impact of the world’s top sport is not to be taken lightly. Even if the national football team is currently underperforming, any small achievement will be widely reported by the media.